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Ali Bello
Venezuelan jazz violinist
About Me
Venezuelan born Alí Bello has become one of the most dazzling and sought after violinists,
distinguishing himself for his versatility among different music styles in addition to his well-
found classical training and multidimensional improvisational skills. Since his surge from El
Sistema, the musical education program of his country, and after building upon years of
experience in New York, he has become a Latin jazz music figure to be reckoned with.
During his career, Alí has collaborated and performed with such figures as Johnny Pacheco,
Eddie Palmieri, and Paquito D’Rivera. He has also recorded with bands of great tradition such
as Orquesta Broadway and Africando as well as modern fusion bands like Alfredo Naranjo y
El Guajeo, La Clave Secreta, and Los Jóvenes del Barrio.
It is much beyond the amazing Afro Latin rhythms that Alí’s strings reach. He has become a
sultry sound in tango, regularly performing with Grammy winner bandoneonist Raul Jaurena,
and a regular collaborator on scores with flamenco guitarist Pedro Cortés. His repertoire
expands even further to include gypsy jazz and American folk music, as a member of the
touring quintet Doc Severinsen & El Ritmo De La Vida. He has also infused the violin into the
popular rhythms of R&B, performing live with The Roots, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z. Alí can be
heard arranging and collaborating dance beats with Grammy winner producer Louie Vega
and artists Anané and Luisito Quintero, as well as recording with award winning groups
Aventura and Don Omar. His violin has backed up amazing singers of the stature of
Mercedes Sosa, Susana Baca, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Alejandro Fernández, and Cheo Feliciano
among others.
From international performances to innovative recording sessions, from tropical Afro-
Caribbean beats to swing and jazz, from arrangements in salsa to collaborations in Middle
Eastern music, , and from güajiro folkloric phrases to electric funk grooves, Alí Bello has
proven himself as a musician with an exceptionally skillful repertoire and much more to
come.
Alí Bello
& The Sweet Wire Band -
Captivating audiences with an invigorating and fresh perspective of Latin jazz, Alí Bello and
The Sweet Wire Band presents a fusion of Latin jazz with many different Afro-Venezuelan
and Caribbean musical styles, including an array of Venezuelan percussion like Quitiplás,
Culo'e Puyas, and Cumacos drummings among others.
Most recently, his new album Connection Caracas - New York, under the New York music
label Zoho Music, has been reviewed as one of the Top 50 Jazz CD’s of 2013 by JazzTimes
Magazine. The album has been ranked 4th among The Best CDs Released in 2013 by Mark
Holston of JAZZIZ Magazine and has also been named Album Of The Week by the Latin Jazz
Network, among other reviews. The album’s many musical colors and textures create
canvases of musical intermixtures in which Ali’s virtuosic violin, and it’s very distinctive
palette of sounds and timbre, is the protagonist.
“The mix of classical, folk, jazz, roots, and Latin genres are very compelling and
enthralling”...
Matthews Foss / Inside World Music
“Alí Bello is a master of his instrument; a player of extraordinary refinement, who seems to
suffuse the violin with a powerful electrical charge as he plays it”...
Raul da Gama / Latin Jazz Network